My response to Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers

Here is my congresswoman's letter in response to me writing her about cutting out of control Military spending:

Dear Eric,

Thank you for contacting me regarding the defense budget. It is an honor to represent the people of Eastern Washington and I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with me.

First and foremost, I want to thank the brave members of our Armed Services and their families who sacrifice so much on a daily basis to protect the freedoms we enjoy everyday. Like you, I believe we need to spend our tax dollars wisely. Keeping our nation safe is one of my top priorities. To that end, I believe we need to give our military the resources they need to maintain a superior defense program. Be assured that should this issue come before me in Congress, I will keep your thoughts in mind as they are debated on the House floor.

Thanks again for contacting me on this important issue. As your Representative in Congress, I am committed to putting the best interests of Eastern Washington first. I invite you to visit my website at www.mcmorrisrodgers.house.gov for additional information or to sign up to be kept up to date on these issues. Please do not hesitate to contact my office if I can be of further assistance.


Best Wishes,
Cathy McMorris Rodgers
Member of Congress


And here is my response to her letter:


Mrs. Cathy McMorris Rodgers,

First and foremost, I too support our soldiers and I believe that writing members of congress, challenging the issues of policy and exercising free speech are not anti-troop actions but are historical and foundational principles of a healthy democracy. The act of challenging the bankrupting of our country through unparalleled military spending and an ever increasing build up of arms, does support our troops and it saves their lives in the long run.

Upon receiving yet another ‘form letter’ from one of your tax funded administrators, I find myself stewing in the disillusionment that is fermenting among those who feel that we have lost the true heart of representative government. The general malaise of political disinterest in our day to day life is often the result of seeing the pointlessness of trying to engage a system that nods it’s head to the voter and taxpayer but in reality is motivated by other bigger, stronger and wealthier voices.

You stated in your letter that the freedoms I enjoy today are the result of the lives and deaths of American soldiers fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. Could you please document the facts behind that statement? It sounds more like a political quip that is meant to derail thoughtful debate before anyone can even begin to lay out the argument.

In my understanding, its the Constitution and Bill of Rights that entitle me to the freedoms we hold in this country...not the killing of other people.

The U.S. will spend more on the war in Afghanistan this year, adjusting for inflation, than we spent on the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War and the Spanish-American War combined. The United States also spends nearly as much on military power as every other country in the world combined, plus we maintain troops at more than 800 bases around the world! How you can justify that kind of draining economic behemoth under the guise of running as a ‘fiscal conservative’ escapes me.

You are the only Republican that I didn’t vote for in the last election and one of the reasons is your apparent disconnect on this issue. Military spending and policy affects far more areas of national life than it used too. The people of Eastern Washington are looking to our elected members of Congress for true leadership to move out of the problems that we are suffering from as a nation. Maintaining the party line, enabling out of control deficit spending to take place, playing the bait and switch game with military spending cuts and then hiding behind a series of military supporting platitudes doesn’t convince me of the legitimacy of your statement that you are “looking out for the interests of the people of this district.”

These failed policies have led to the death of many service men and women in this state, for which I hold your voting record culpable, there is no other way around that fact. Ending the needless deaths of our fellow Americans is the kind of leadership that I desire to see you exercise.

As my representative in congress, I implore you as a member of the House Armed Services Committee to leverage your position to save the lives of soldiers from Eastern Washington, put an end to unrestrained military spending and truly reflect the will of 63% of American people who do not support the war in Afghanistan.

Sincerely,

Eric Blauer
Spokane, WA.